[...] the inspirarion and initiative [of the enquiry] came from Chadwick alone. Eager to use the 'new machinery' he left one part of the enquiry to the medical officers of the new Unions.[...] But the rest of the enquiry (and it was this that marked the revolutionary step forward) he entrusted to the three men whom he justly regarded as the pioneers of preventive medicine. "Dr Arnott [...] was requested to assist in the enquiry because he was known to have paid attention to the circumstances governing the public health, Dr Kay ... because he had called public attention to the low sanitary condition of the labouring population in Manchester, which had previously been urged upon attention in that town by Dr Ferriar about the same period as had been done by Dr Currie in Loverpool". Dr Southwood Smith was called upon "from the knowledge given by his position as physician to the London Fever Hospital".